Comment on Why isn't jerking off more valorized as an easy dopamine hit that's also literally good for you?

• Nollij@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  While I agree that it’s not exactly the same, there is a lot of overlap. It’s also more complicated than the OP presented.

  Since everyone here is refusing to do even a basic search, here is one on the first page of Google results.

  An individual’s response to natural rewards, such as sex, is largely regulated by the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, which receives excitatory and inhibitory input from other limbic structures and the prefrontal cortex [64]. Erections are dependent upon activation of dopaminergic neurons in VTA and dopamine receptors in the NAc [65,66]. Excitatory glutamate inputs from other limbic structures (amygdala, hippocampus) and the prefrontal cortex facilitate dopaminergic activity in the VTA and NAc [62]. Reward responsive dopamine neurons also project into the dorsal striatum, a region activated during sexual arousal and penile tumescence [67]. Dopamine agonists, such as apomorphine, have been shown to induce erection in men with both normal and impaired erectile function [68]. Thus, dopamine signaling in the reward system and hypothalamus plays a central role in sexual arousal, sexual motivation and penile erections [65,66,69].

  We propose that chronic Internet pornography use resulted in erectile dysfunction and delayed ejaculation in our servicemen reported above. We hypothesize an etiology arising in part from Internet pornography-induced alterations in the circuits governing sexual desire and penile erections. Both hyper-reactivity to Internet pornography cues via glutamate inputs and downregulation of the reward system’s response to normal rewards may be involved. These two brain changes are consistent with chronic overconsumption of both natural rewards and drugs of abuse, and are mediated by dopamine surges in the reward system [70,71,72].

  […]partnered sex no longer met their conditioned expectations and no longer triggered the release of sufficient dopamine to produce and sustain erections

  The word dopamine appears 54 times in this article, and overall seems to agree with the OP.

  Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5039517/

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